AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder

Sellers use this call to send messages to bidders, and to users who have made offers via Best Offer, regarding an active listing. Messages sent to users appear in their My eBay Inbox. Sellers can use AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder to send up to ten messages per call. The following restrictions apply:

The item specified by ItemID must be currently active

The message sender must be the seller of the item

The recipients must be bidders on that item, or they must have made offers on that item via Best Offer

Usage Details

AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder accepts up to ten messages per request.

The call returns success for each message that was successfully sent. For messages that were not successfully sent, the application needs to parse the error response to determine whether or not it is possible to recover from the error.

If required fields are missing from the message, they can be added and the message can be resent. However, if the basic requirements between the seller and the bidder are not met (for example, if the item is no longer active), the message will not be able to be resent and the seller must use an alternate means to contact the user (such as contacting the former bidder via the eBay.com Web site). To contact users by phone, you must use GetUserContactDetails to obtain the additional contact information.

AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder returns Success or Failure (an error) for the entire call, as well as each for each message container in the response. The call may succeed as a whole, even though individual messages in the request might have failed. The following figure illustrates a call that succeeded, although some messages failed:

Figure 1: AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder response containers

Note that if a warning occurs, the result set will contain both normal data and an error construct. See Error Handling for details.

Testing AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder

You can test AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder in the Sandbox.

To test the call, you must have a "bidding" relationship between two users. The caller must have listed the specified item, and the target users must have bid, or placed an offer, on the item. In addition, the item must be currently active.

Create a seller in the sandbox and have them list an item. You must allow Best Offers on your item if you want to test sending messages to users who have made Best Offers.

Create a buyer in the sandbox and have them place a bid (or an offer) on the item. You can use the Sandbox UI for this task.

Call AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder with the test seller's authentication token. Specify the test buyer in the RecipientID field and the item you created in ItemID field.

After sending the message, check the buyer's My Messages in the Sandbox UI to see if the message successfully reached their Inbox.

Further testing information can be obtained through Developer Technical Support.

Input

The box below lists all fields that could be included in the call request. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented
in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are (or soon will be) non-operational.

An AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer container is required for each message being sent to unique bidders/potential buyers. A seller can send up to 10 messages to unique bidders/potential buyers in one AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder call.

A CorrelationID value is required for each AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer container that is used in the request. The CorrelationID value returned under each AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderResponseContainer container is used to correlate each member message container in the request with its corresponding member message container in the response. The same CorrelationID value that you pass into a request will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response.

Content of the message is input into this string field. HTML formatting is not allowed in the body of the message. If plain HTML is used, an error occurs and the message will not go through. If encoded HTML is used, the message may go through but the formatting will not be successful, and the recipient of the message will just see the HTML formatting tags.Max length: 1000.

Recipient's eBay user ID. For AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder, it must be the seller of an item, that item's bidder, or a user who has made an offer on that item using Best Offer. Note: maxOccurs is a shared schema element and needs to be unbounded for AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder. For AddMemberMessageRTQ, this field is mandatory if ItemID is not in the request. For all other uses, there can only be one RecipientID.

Use ErrorLanguage to return error strings for the call in a different language from the language commonly associated with the site that the requesting user is registered with. Below are some examples from different countries.

Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned.

Note:GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.

The version number of the API code that you are programming against (e.g., 859). The version you specify for a call has these basic effects:

It indicates the version of the code lists and other data that eBay should use to process your request.

It indicates the schema version you are using.

You need to use a version that is greater than or equal to the lowest supported version. For the SOAP API: If you are using the SOAP API, this field is required. Specify the version of the WSDL your application is using.

For the XML API: If you are using the XML API, this field has no effect. Instead, specify the version in the X-EBAY-API-COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL HTTP header. (If you specify Version in the body of an XML API request and it is different from the value in the HTTP header, eBay returns an informational warning that the value in the HTTP header was used instead.)

Controls whether or not to return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request.

An unrecognized element is one that is not defined in any supported version of the schema. Schema element names are case-sensitive, so using WarningLevel can also help you remove any potential hidden bugs within your application due to incorrect case or spelling in field names before you put your application into the Production environment.

WarningLevel only validates elements; it doesn't validate XML attributes. It also doesn't control warnings related to user-entered strings or numbers, or warnings for logical errors.

We recommend that you only use this during development and debugging. Do not use this in requests performed in the Production environment.

Applicable values:

High

(in) The WarningLevel value is set to High if the user wishes to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. Setting the WarningLevel value to High is not recommended in a production environment. Instead, it should only be used during the development/debugging stage.

Low

(in) The WarningLevel value is set to Low if the user does not wish to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. This is the default value if WarningLevel is not specified in the call request.

Output

The box below lists all fields that might be returned in the response. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are not returned (or soon will not be returned) or are not operational (or soon will be non-operational).

This enumerated value indicates whether or not the corresponding message was successfully sent to the bidder(s)/potential buyer(s). If the value returned in this field is not Success, the message may have to be resent with another AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder call.

Applicable values:

CustomCode

(out) Reserved for internal or future use.

Failure

(out) This value indicates that the call request processing failed.

PartialFailure

(out) This value indicates that the call request partially failed. One or more issues that may be responsible for this partial failure can be checked in the Errors container, that will also be returned when one or more known issues occur with the call request.

Success

(out) This value indicates that the call request was processed successfully without any issues.

Warning

(out) This value indicates that the call request was successful, but processing was not without any issues. These issues can be checked in the Errors container, that will also be returned when one or more known issues occur with the call request.

Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.

This is a unique identifier for a message that was sent through the AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder call. The seller must provide a CorrelationID value for each message that is sent through an AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer container in the request. The CorrelationID value returned under each AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderResponseContainer container is used to correlate each member message container in the request with its corresponding member message container in the response.

A token representing the application-level acknowledgement code that indicates the response status (e.g., success). The AckCodeType list specifies the possible values for the Ack field.

Applicable values:

CustomCode

(out) Reserved for internal or future use.

Failure

(out) This value indicates that the call request processing failed.

Success

(out) This value indicates that the call request was processed successfully without any issues.

Warning

(out) This value indicates that the call request was successful, but processing was not without any issues. These issues can be checked in the Errors container, that will also be returned when one or more known issues occur with the call request.

This refers to the specific software build that eBay used when processing the request and generating the response. This includes the version number plus additional information. eBay Developer Support may request the build information when helping you resolve technical issues.

Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned.

Note:GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.

API errors are divided between two classes: system errors and request errors.

Applicable values:

CustomCode

(out) Reserved for internal or future use.

RequestError

(out) An error has occurred either as a result of a problem in the sending application or because the application's end-user has attempted to submit invalid data (or missing data). In these cases, do not retry the request. The problem must be corrected before the request can be made again. If the problem is due to something in the application (such as a missing required field), the application must be changed. If the problem is a result of end-user data, the application must alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for the end-user to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, resend the request to eBay with the corrected data.

SystemError

(out) Indicates that an error has occurred on the eBay system side, such as a database or server down. An application can retry the request as-is a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, the request may be resent in its original form.

Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.

A unique code that identifies the particular error condition that occurred. Your application can use error codes as identifiers in your customized error-handling algorithms. See the "Errors by Number" document.

Indicates whether the error is a severe error (causing the request to fail) or an informational error (a warning) that should be communicated to the user.

Applicable values:

CustomCode

(out) Reserved for internal or future use.

Error

(out) The request that triggered the error was not processed successfully. When a serious application-level error occurs, the error is returned instead of the business data.

If the source of the problem is within the application (such as a missing required element), change the application before you retry the request.

If the problem is due to end-user input data, please alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for them to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, you can attempt to re-send the request to eBay.

If the source of the problem is on eBay's side, An application can retry the request as-is a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, the request may be resent in its original form.

(out) The request was processed successfully, but something occurred that may affect your application or the user. For example, eBay may have changed a value the user sent in. In this case, eBay returns a normal, successful response and also returns the warning.

When a warning occurs, the error is returned in addition to the business data. In this case, you do not need to retry the request (as the original request was successful). However, depending on the cause or nature of the warning, you might need to contact either the end user or eBay to effect a long term solution to the problem to prevent it from reoccurring in the future.

Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.

Expiration date of the user's authentication token. Only returned within the 7-day period prior to a token's expiration. To ensure that user authentication tokens are secure and to help avoid a user's token being compromised, tokens have a limited life span. A token is only valid for a period of time (set by eBay). After this amount of time has passed, the token expires and must be replaced with a new token.

This value represents the date and time when eBay processed the request. The time zone of this value is GMT and the format is the ISO 8601 date and time format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ). See the Time Values section in the eBay Features Guide for information about this time format and converting to and from the GMT time zone.

Note:GetCategories and other Trading API calls are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, this time value reflects the time the cached response was created. Thus, this value is not necessarily when the request was processed. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, this time value does reflect when the request was processed.

The version of the response payload schema. Indicates the version of the schema that eBay used to process the request. See the Standard Data for All Calls section in the eBay Features Guide for information on using the response version when troubleshooting CustomCode values that appear in the response.

Samples

Note: Some item IDs, user IDs, or other data in these samples might no longer be active on eBay. If necessary, you can substitute current eBay data in your requests.

Sample: Basic Call

Sends messages to two users who have made Best Offers on an item.

Description

Magical Bookseller listed an item with a Best Offer option. She received two offers on the book, and she can use AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder to send messages each bidder with the results of their offers.

Input

This request contains two AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer nodes, one for each message being sent. Note that the ItemId is the same for each message, although you can use one call to send messages regarding more than a single item. Use CorrelationID values to make it easier to interpret the results.

XML format.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<RequesterCredentials>
<eBayAuthToken>ABC...123</eBayAuthToken>
</RequesterCredentials>
<AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer>
<!-- This is a seller-defined value, and is used to match up each member message in the response -->
<CorrelationID>1</CorrelationID>
<!-- The user making this call must be the seller of the listing ID posted below -->
<ItemID>170000029202</ItemID>
<MemberMessage>
<Body>
Greetings! Thank you for your offer. In fact, you made the Best Offer,
so I am happy to inform you that you won the book.
</Body>
!-- The user ID of the buyer being sent the message -->
<RecipientID>bountifulbuyer</RecipientID>
</MemberMessage>
</AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer>
<AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer>
<CorrelationID>2</CorrelationID>
<!-- This Item ID value should be the same for each buyer message being sent -->
<ItemID>170000029202</ItemID>
<MemberMessage>
<Body>
Greetings! Thank you for your offer. I am sorry to inform you that another
bidder also made an offer, and I have decided to go with their offer.
Good luck with your future bidding.
</Body>
<RecipientID>megabuyer</RecipientID>
</MemberMessage>
</AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequestContainer>
</AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidderRequest>

Output

The results from this call show that the overall call succeeded, as well as each message within the call.